My Turn Column

November 19, 2004

Note to editors: The following is a My Turn column from Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard regarding National Adoption Month.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. This is a time to reflect and give thanks for our families and all the good things in our lives. But, for thousands of children in foster care, celebrating Thanksgiving without a permanent family can be very sad.

While Thanksgiving and football dominate November for most of us, we can also take time out to celebrate National Adoption Month. This month we particularly celebrate the families that adopt children and make them part of a permanent family.

There are many individuals and organizations in Arizona working together to make sure that foster care children move into permanent families. Arizona joins communities across the United States to celebrate National Adoption Day with events that finalize the adoptions of children leaving foster care. These events help to raise awareness about children who are available for adoption and the need for adoptive parents.

Many foster and adoptive parents have courageously and generously welcomed children into their lives. Adoptions would not be possible without the tireless efforts of the many community organizations, social workers, foster parents, lawyers, child advocates, judges, birth parents and volunteers.

The Attorney General’s Office will continue to be a strong voice for Arizona’s most vulnerable children. We represent the Department of Economic Security in Child Protective Services cases with more than 8,000 children placed in out-of-home care due to abuse, neglect or abandonment. Last year, approximately 800 children left foster care for permanent homes with adoptive families.

I encourage all Arizonans to join me in recognizing National Adoption Month and learning more about adoption and giving children in foster care the permanent, loving families they deserve. Becoming an adoptive parent is a lifetime commitment but well worth the effort.

And to those who work to place foster care kids in permanent homes, we are grateful for all your efforts on behalf of Arizona’s children.

For more information, visit the Arizona Department of Economic Security Web site at www.azkidsneedu.gov or call 1-877-KIDS-NEED-U (1-877-543-7633).

(Note: Terry and Monica Goddard are adoptive parents)